


Final Days of the Exodus Yellow

by Super_Human456



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Exodus Program, The Collapse (Destiny), The Darkness (Destiny) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:22:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23606002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Super_Human456/pseuds/Super_Human456
Summary: As the threat to Earth encroaches slowly, humanity scrambles to escape as quickly as possible. A few months after Exodus Green lifts off, the rest of the program follows, including the Exodus Yellow.
Kudos: 1





	1. Liftoff

**Author's Note:**

> Always loved the lore books from D2. Wanted to go on ahead and do it myself. And it is the origin story of my Titan character in Destiny as sad as that sounds.

The hulls of the ship rattled as liftoff was achieved on the cold winter day. Exodus Yellow, one of the first ships of the Exodus Program to leave Earth began their escape of the Sol system. Onboard the shuttle, over 100,000 souls in passengers, half of which were already in cryo-sleep. The other 2,000 souls were the crew and military, working swiftly to get the craft defended as the ship finally passed by the shadow of the Traveler. The massive sphere, slowly became a dot as the Yellow broke orbit and moved towards the moon. Several children huddled close to their parents as they saw the never-ending black abyss beyond the blue skies of Earth.

Walking through the second class passenger bay, a man in Russian Aeronautics gear and armed with an assault rifle walked through. He softly pushed past some of the passengers who were standing, all trembling with fear. The man however never broke his stoic glare. As he passed by a starboard viewing window, he swiftly walked over and looked outside to see Luna slowly coming into view. He turned back a little, his brown hair being illuminated by the sunlight as he looked back to Earth. 

A hand then placed itself on the man’s shoulder. He turned over and saw another soldier, a woman also in Russian Aeronautics gear. She nodded at him and he returned the nod. He then stepped out of the way and continued to walk forward with the woman giving chance. 

“The Captain is requesting all hands to move to stations. That means us too.” The woman said as she finally reached the side of her partner. 

“Understood Sarge.” The man returned. The woman chuckled in response. “Don’t think ranks matter anymore, Teves.”

“Then why do we still have a Captain?” Teves returned. The Sargent laughed a little again and slapped Teves’ upper arm. “Come on. She’s waiting for us.”

The Sargent began to pick up her pace. Teves nodded and followed behind her. The two entered a massive bay, filled with dozens of other soldiers, all in different uniforms. Some wearing colors of Italy, Russia, Great Britain among others. Teves and his sergeant fell in line with other Russian Aeronautics troopers as two figures stepped out from an upper balcony. Colonel Ford and Captain Eloise Pavlov. Each of them well up in age as wrinkles were visible whenever you talked to them. Nonetheless, the Pavlov stepped up and saluted. Everyone in the congregation saluted back at her. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you all for your bravery. This mission is one of dire circumstances. Colonel Ford will provide details and troop assignment. Troopers, it is your job, your final order from your captain, that at all costs, you make sure this vessel reaches its intended destination. Do you understand?!” Pavlov shouted from her balcony. 

“Sir! Yes, sir!” The troopers replied. Pavlov nodded and Ford took over. 

“Division Alpha will be monitoring the stern of the ship. Have our forward guns ready to fire. Missiles loaded. Front line defense is your priority.” As Ford continued to hand out orders, Teves and the Sargent looked around the room as the hulls rattled again. The Sargent took in a deep breath and rubbed the back of her neck.

“We are going to die out here.” The Sargent stated brutally.

“Maria?” Teves turned to her with a questioning look in his eye. 

“I’m just stating the obvious here.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Oh come on, Alex.” Maria turned to him, breaking the structure of the line they were in. “You saw the Traveler. There are 15 of these ships. Ten of them took off at once. We’ll be lucky to even break to the Kuiper Belt.” Maria returned coldly. 

She had a point. That many ships will cause chaos. Exodus Green already launched, roughly a day ahead of Yellow. No communiqué from them since about Mars. Earth would become an easy hot spot for whatever it was that was breaking through the solar system. Whatever was attacking was the real question. But that was for another day. Now, survival was top priority. 

“And Kilo Division. Passenger patrol. You all will reinforce Delta and Foxtrot should the need arise. Dismissed.” Ford had finished his orders, shocking Teves out of his train of thought. He looked around as some troopers near him began to move out and away. Maria tapped his shoulder slightly. 

“You alright?” She asked with some level of concern. 

“Yeah. Fine. Come on.” Alex said sharply as ever. He took his rifle in both hands and proceeded back towards the first-class quarters. Maria began to follow him. 

After entering and walking through the first couple corridors filled with passengers, the hull continued to rattle. Alex looked up, some anger on his face as he felt the ship rattle again. He turned back to look down the hall as he saw Maria looking out a window. He walked over to her as she looked back at him.

“Anything?” Alex asked. 

“No…just the void.” She said. Almost as if all hope in her voice was gone. Maria then began to walk again as Alex peered out the window. He saw the moon slightly in view. But the ship was so far away after several hours of flight that it almost would no longer exist in their vision. 

“Corporal,” Maria said sharply. Alex quickly turned back and followed Maria into another corridor. He quickly began to follow her again. When the doors closed again, Alex slowly turned his head towards the room with a bright blue tint in the lights. 

“Hot damn,” Maria said. 

Alex spun around and saw rows among rows of people all stored inside cryo-sleep. Maria began to slowly walk into the room, still transfixed on numerous bodies of frozen human flesh. 

“Richest of the rich,” Maria said as she slightly tapped on the glass of one pod. Alex looked around but shook it off. He continued forward and walked beside Maria. “We should keep going. We have a patrol to finish upon.”

“Oh yeah. Like we need to gun down people here.” Maria snarked back to her partner. Alex sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He stopped once he saw Maria looking at him. 

“Ok, ok. Fine, you big crybaby.” She snarked back and continued forward. Alex sighed again and continued forward after her.


	2. A Day on Exodus Yellow

Corporal Alex Teves began his day as he did every day since enlisting to defend Earth from extraterrestrial threats. By waking up in a cold sweat as the terror of the unknown struck him. He would pant slightly, gripping his chest a little until he calmed down enough to roll out of his bunk and stretch slightly. The rotten smell of the unsanitary troop barracks for Kilo Division was nasty. Something rotten egg and turkey. Most of that was from Ricci. He was an overweight slop, complaining about work every chance he got and making life not as desirable for the other troopers of Kilo.

Regardless, Teves got his gear on, moved out from the large hall and stepped out to the long corridor of the Exodus Yellow trooper section. The section was just above first-class passengers on the mighty tower and just below the bridge and crew quarters. Teves walked down the corridor, giving the occasional glance and nod to fellow troopers and crewmen. After the walk, Teves steps out into a passenger hold and begins his patrol of the day. 

Kilo Division normally had what many considered to be the most boring duties of any defense soldier aboard the Exodus Yellow. Still, Teves did what he could. As he walked down the hallway towards the third-class passengers, the door opened and a group of children ran through the doors. Two of them laughing as the third, a young girl, chased them down the hall. The first child, a short boy bumped into Teves’ leg and slowly looked up at the man. 

Alexander Teves was roughly six-foot, three inches tall. A massive man with broad shoulders, fitting of the word Titan. He had a winter hat over his head, almost something ripped straight from the second World War centuries ago. As Teves slowly turned his head down towards the boy, the little one shuttered and stepped away from the soldier. 

“What are you all doing?” Teves asked. A cold air emerging from his mouth. 

“Playing, sir.” The boy stuttered back. 

Teves looked up and saw the girl in the back had a short wooden stick in her hand. He looked down again and saw another wooden stick along the ground carried by the child who had bumped into him. He moves his hand down and offers the child support on up. The boy slowly took Teves’ hand and the large trooper hoisted the boy to his feet. 

“Be careful. This isn’t a jungle gym.” Teves said, looking down at the three children. “Some of the troopers here aren’t the nicest. And if you find a way into the ship’s mechanic sections, you could do more harm to us all than anything else.”

The children slowly began to nod. Fear over some of their faces. They grab their sticks and slowly run back into the past room. Teves looks over with a somewhat confused face. He hears chuckling behind him and spins around to find Maria slowly walking over to him. 

“Excellent work, Mr. Personality.” She said mockingly.

“Thanks, Sarge.”

Maria laughed again as she walked past him and back into the next corridor. Teves sighed and followed her inside the room. As he walked in, he spotted the three children sitting at a far-right wall of the hall. The girl and boy lightly tapping the sticks at one another but still having some fun. He continued onward and caught up with Maria. 

“So, how has patrol been so far?” Maria asked as they pushed past a few passengers. 

“Fine. Nothing bad happening at all.” Teves returned. However, he stopped himself as loud coughing sounds were heard. He turned his head and saw a few members of the medical staff carry out a few people from the hall. “Sarge.” He called out to Maria. “What’s been going on here?”

“Just a small virus. Nothing the docs can’t fix. Calm down.” Maria stated.

“But those people. How can we.” Alex was cut off by a glare from Maria. “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Maria retorted as she walked off again. “What happened to your usual upbeat attitude?” Teves asked. Maria laughed slightly again. “Well, we are in the never-ending void of space. What do you think?” She responded, walking away in a cold motion. 

Teves walked behind her, keeping silent as they patrolled the halls of the ship. The denial of the shift in perspective was a falsehood. Those who were the optimists slowly became the pessimists, if not more than they originally portrayed themselves as. 

Teves continued onward, looking around at the passengers as a few more citizens cough a sniff. A slight look of pain covered his face, but he pushed forward. Tragedies always occurred on the ship. An overpacked and cramped ship colony ship was bound to have issues such as disease, passenger dispute, and others. 

Yet somehow, the ship was able to stand in relative peace. Just another day on board the Exodus Yellow.


	3. Tea Time

Within the first-class passenger bay, there were numerous game tables and lovely sitting areas for the few million passengers who encompassed the class. At a far off corner of the main hall sat an elderly man with a small cup of tea beside him as he set up a chessboard before him. As he worked to set it up, a male figure stepped before him. The elderly man looked up and smiled as he saw Teves looking down at him. He looked over to see the Russian Aeronautics emblem on his arm. 

“Ah. Privet. Khotite sygrat’?” The elderly man said to Teves. Teves waved his hand “I speak English.” Teves said back. The elderly man nodded and gestured to the game board. Teves shakes his head, telling the elderly man a firm no in response. 

“You must have some time to talk, yes?” The old man asked. Teves rolled his eyes plainly before sitting down across from the old man. 

“Dr. Paxton Sullivan.” The elderly man introduced himself. “Corporal Alexander Teves. Kilo Division.” Teves said back. Sullivan chuckled a little bit as he picked up his cup of tea and drank it. 

“Would you like some?” He asked, holding up the cup.

“No,” Teves said back. Almost annoyed in his delivery. Sullivan laughed slightly as he looked back to Teves. “Always the stoic type, you soldiers you.” Sullivan laughed a little again as Teves glared at him. “And how would you know that?” The trooper returned back, his voice sounding angrier than before. Sullivan stopped himself from drinking more tea and slowly looked back at Teves.

“My boy. I am 278 years old. For three generations my family has been troopers in the global defense force. I know a thing or two about soldiers.” Paxton said, a glint of pride in his eyes. Teves nodded slightly as he turned around and looked out to the rest of the first-class passengers. He turned his head back to Sullivan who was taking another spot of tea. 

“Family?” Teves inquired. Sullivan’s eyes lit up as he quickly placed his cup of tea down onto the table. He nodded as he swallowed the liquid. 

“Yes! A couple of grandkids running around here. Kids as well. One just turned 150.” Sullivan praised. “And you, my boy.” The elder asked with a smile. Teves shook his head. “My mother died when I was 17. Been on my own ever since.”

“Oh. So sorry.” Sullivan returned. Sadness in his voice. Teves looked around the hall, keeping his eyes out for possible trouble, staying away from the conversation. Sullivan cleared his throat to regain the trooper’s attention. 

“So my boy, how is the inner workings of this vessel shaping up to be?” Sullivan asked with a large smile. 

“Fine. Nothing of note.” 

“Really now? You are aware that rumor travels fast. Especially among us up here.” Sullivan said. Teves looked around the hall to see some people talking. Eating a bit and enjoying themselves. He turned back to Sullivan and cocked an eyebrow at him. 

“Where do you even sleep? Crew quarters are up towards the bridge.” Teves asked as he scanned the room once again. 

“Oh. We have our quarters on the deck below. Same with the second class. Third class has their halls and,” 

“Wait,” Teves said, cutting him off. “They don’t have quarters?” 

“Not all men are created equal, my boy,” Sullivan stated as he picked up his cup of tea. “Not even during the Golden Age.” He took a swig as Teves looked around the hall again. The trooper got up and looked back down at Sullivan. 

“Thank you,” Teves said as he hoisted his rifle back up into his arms. Teves glared a little as he began to walk away from the first-class hall. Sullivan waved to the trooper as he saw the young man walk away.


	4. Knights

On the bridge of the Exodus Yellow, Captain Pavlov oversees her team as the helm continues to navigate the ship towards Dione. A few rough structures were built on the moon during the Golden Age, mostly for research among the various ice sheets that covered the moon. It would be a good place to set up shop for a while and fortify. Exodus Blue would be joining them within five years after touchdown. 

Colonel Ford looked over a large table behind the captain. On it was a map of the system. Various moons had large X's over them, signifying that whatever was making its way to Earth had already struck. Ford looked over and out towards the window of the bridge. Just beyond the horizon, he could see a faint little red dot. Mars. He looked back down the charts and up towards a communications officer.

“Comms.” The colonel said. “Anything from Exodus Green?” 

“Negative, sir.” The officer replied. “Captain Li has yet to answer any of our calls.”

“Last known position?”

“Near the Belt, sir.”

Ford nodded a bit before looking back towards Pavlov.

“We will make it, Ford.”

“They took off six months ago. We’ve been out here for two already. That ship was more than properly able to defend itself. So…what the hell took it out?”

“We don’t know if it was.” Pavlov sternly stated to Ford as she turned around. “As far as we are aware, the ship broke out of the system and found a new colony. Better yet, whatever it was destroyed thanks to Rasputin. 

“For some reason, I doubt that highly,” Ford replied as he returned his gaze back to his charts. Pavlov rolled her eyes and looked back out among the stars. She scanned around slightly before walking down to the rest of the bridge. She looked around to see her crew still working as diligently as always. She sighed and turned back to walk back towards the main seat of the bridge until she stopped herself. Pavlov slowly turned around to a man wearing a Brazilian military uniform.

“Major Sousa,” Pavlov said, causing the Brazilian man to turn back to her. He saluted as she approached.

“Anything to report from Alpha Division?”

“No, ma’am. Every stern, port and starboard sides are clear.”

“No ships?”

“Nothing.” 

“Maybe we overestimated the launch,” Ford said, calling out from his table. Pavlov placed a hand on her chin as she walked away from Sousa. As she walked away, a slight beeping sound was heard. Pavlov’s eyes shot open wide as she slowly turned her head towards a few scanning officers. She speed-walked over, almost like she was about to kill something as Ford ran over to join her. 

“What is it?” She asked the officer. 

“I’m not sure ma’am. It just popped up.” The officer replied. 

“That doesn’t answer the question, soldier. What is it?” Ford asked with a cold undertone. 

“I don’t know. Just look at it.”

Both Pavlov and Ford looked. As the sonar rotated again, the usual empty void was on full highlights. Something was closing in on all sides of the Exodus Yellow with the exception of the stern. Another pass and the form had moved, forming what looked like a mighty hand reaching out to the ship. A third pass and the arms of whatever was out there grew more. Pavlov looked away at the screen and out into the void of space. 

Pavlov began to walk towards the large window of the bridge and looked out across it. Outside of the helm and scanners, no one was doing their job anymore. All eyes were on the captain. She looked out of the ship and scanned around. As she did, Pavlov stopped as she looked out towards the port side of the ship. A large black mass slowly began to encroach upon the ship. She turned her head to the starboard side of the vessel and saw another large black void moving in. She slowly turned her head down to see a similar black void approach from the underbelly of the ship. 

“That’s not our usual friendly void,” Ford said sarcastically. 

Pavlov ran over to her seat and pressed a button along the right armrest. A whistle was heard throughout the ship.  
“All hands! Battle stations! This is not a drill! I repeat! This is not a drill!”


	5. The Cloud Part 1

Alarms began to blare around the Exodus Yellow. Troopers from Beta and Charlie Divisions ran to their posts along the rear of the ship and began to open fire at the black shadows slowly encompassing the ship. Missiles were fired but they were sucked into the black void. A faint orange and red light coming from the void. A few soldiers looked confused as the rockets held no effect. Another trooper, Major Raz walked behind a squad of soldiers firing at the black cloud. She slammed her hand down on a chair and pointed out.

“Keep firing! Don’t stop until you can’t fire anymore!” The major yelled out to her troops. Beta Division soldiers nodded and continued to fire towards the cloud. The soldiers continued to fire as more missiles were launched and absorbed into the large black cloud. 

Hordes of third-class passengers began to huddle together. The ship goes on lockdown as a few passengers begin to slam their hands on the locked doors, begging to be helped. Troopers in those sections do what they can to calm the crowds, yet their own pleas for calm are overwhelmed by the screams of damnation. 

Along with the second-class passengers, Alex Teves was caught in a mass horde of panicking civilians. As more people bumped into him, he was pushed around until a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him out. Teves falls down and looks up to see Maria standing over him.

“Get up you idiot!” She yelled at him. Maria pulls Teves up to his feet and pushed him off to the side in order to get out of the crowds. Teves looked at the crowd and quickly ran over to a window. Teves’ eyes widen as he looks at the massive dark cloud beyond the ship. He turned back to Maria as she tried to calm the crowd down. 

“Sarge?” Teves called out to his commanding officer. However, yells from the crowd continued to drown him out. “Sarge!” He called out again to Maria. “Maria!” He screamed as loud as he could. Maria turned her head to him and glared a little. “What?!” 

“What the hell is that thing?” Teves yelled back to her. “How the hell should I know?” She yelled as more of the passengers finally began to take note of the cloud slowly coming towards the ship. Teves was doing the same, just watching the cloud move closer towards the ship as the missiles fired by Beta, Delta and Lima Divisions were eaten alive by this cloud. Teves was snapped out of his trance as an elbow hit him in the chest. 

Teves moved back and held his chest in some pain. He looked back up to see the crowd getting more wild. Some people began to try and calm others down within the hall, doing what they could to ease the tension with the troopers within the hall. However, a single word called out and work up the entire crowd all over again.

Escape pods.

A viable option, certainly, but when a crowd the size of about 5,000 began to push and shove to make it to the ladders towards the lower decks, things got hectic. All of the second-class was about 15,000 in total. Three main halls for each group of 5,000. If things got this hectic here, third class which was 80,000 people would get even more insane to handle. As people made their way to the walls, a second sound that sent shivers down the spine of any onboard. 

Gunshots. One bullet was fired from the sound of it. People screamed louder than before. Teves and Maria looked at one another and charged into the crowd. A single gunshot was easily targeted in a space like this. The first bullet on the ship to be fired since liftoff two months ago. When they arrived, they saw the crowd stop around the central ladder of the hall and a single trooper standing guard, aiming his rifle at everyone. It was Ricci. 

The overweight soldier turned and aimed his rifle at Teves and Maria. The two looked more confused than anything else. Ricci pants a little as he looks at his fellow soldiers. 

“I’m not letting those bastard sheep get us all killed!” Ricci yelled, panting a little. 

“Ricci! The hell are you doing?” Maria screamed at the trooper. 

“These sheep want to use the pods! If they do, whatever the hell is out there will come at us faster! And I’ll be damned if I die because of these bastards!” Ricci screamed out back at her. 

“And you are planning on killing everyone here to make sure they don’t escape?” Teves yelled questioningly, “That’s not a protector. That’s a prison guard!” 

“Better to be a tyrant than be dead!” Ricci screamed. “And if you try to stop me,” he aims his rifle towards Teves. “I’ll shoot you too.” 

Maria cocked her rifle and aimed it at Ricci. Ricci quickly aims towards Maria. The overweight trooper pants a little as he switches his aim between each soldier and the crowd. 

“I’m warning you!” Ricci yells. 

“And I’m warning you. Stand down!” Maria screams back. 

The two keep their rifles aimed at one another until two more gunshots go off. The crowd runs away again as Maria looks over and sees that Teves has shot and killed Ricci. She lowers her weapon as she looks at him. Teves walks over and pulls Ricci’s body to the side and places it against the wall. He turns back to her and sees Maria in complete shock. 

“Our duty is to protect lives. No matter the cost.” Teves stated. A cold glare in his eyes. Maria just stood there. Stunned. “Call the bridge.” Teves continued with his glare. “Alert the captain that evacuations are in order. It is the best course of action if we are to” Teves was cut off once again. 

The hull creaked and rattled. A force began to push the ship forward, going at a much faster rate than usual cruising speed. Teves stormed up to the closest window and gasped at what he saw. In the span of a few minutes, the black cloud slowly engulfing the ship had been closer now than ever before. Missiles detonate just mere miles from the ship and do nothing to stop the black cloud from encompassing the Exodus Yellow. 

“So,” Maria began to say as she walked next to Teves, “This is how we go out, huh?”


	6. The Cloud Part 2

Inside the bridge of the Exodus Yellow, the crew scrambled everything. Troopers were running around with orders of different commanders, filling in executive bridge members as the team on board did everything they could to keep moving. Major Sousa was yelling at his soldiers to keep firing everything they had at the black cloud as it slowly began to capture the ship within its jaws. The hull of the Yellow rattled again as the cloud moved in even closer. Pavlov slammed her fist down on her armrest in frustration. 

“Helm?” Pavlov yelled out to her crew. 

“We are firing on full power ma’am! Engineering is doing all they can!” The helmsman yells back to her. 

Pavlov grits her teeth as she continues to watch the cloud slowly overtake the ship. Behind her, Ford nods and points out to the door as three soldiers nod and run out. He walks over to Pavlov and leans down to her head. 

“Delta and Beta companies are reporting no effecting against the cloud. We also have mutinies in the third-class passenger halls.” Ford explained. Pavlov sighed and stood up, placed her hands at her back and took a deep breath. She turned back to her first officer, anger all over her face. 

“Anything else to report, Colonel?” She asked coldly. 

“Second-class passengers are trying to get into escape pods. Sargent Maria Santiago has requested that escape pods be launched so civilians can get to a safe distance.” Ford answered. “I move to deny the request.” He added. 

“Deny their request?” Pavlov questioned. 

“We have already exhausted most of our defenses. Reserves are limited in number. We launch those people out now, we will be sending them to an early death. We’ll be lucky if we can even punch a hole in that damn thing!” Ford returned. The two leaders glared at one another as Pavlov walked a few paces forward. “If we can hold out here, it would be best for everyone on this ship to do so.” He added, sounding more desperate this time. 

“If there is any percent chance that I can get people from this ship out to safety, I will take it. Even if it means ejecting the pods with civilians.” Pavlov yelled back. She then turned her head over to a few crew members on some consoles.

“Master Chief! How close are we to Mars?” Pavlov asked, almost yelling over to the officer.

“About 2 days ma’am!” The officer replied. 

“How fast do those pods travel?”  
“They can go about a third of the speed of the Yellow. If we launch them from the stern, they should reach Mars within a week or two.”

Pavlov looked back to Ford, renewed determination on her face. Ford sighed before he slowly looked up and back out into space. His jaw dropped slightly as Pavlov turned around to see what was happening. The window between the jaws of the cloud was closing. Faster than ever before. Within a few minutes, the entire ship would be engulfed. Pavlov gritted her teeth and spun around, pointing at three troopers.

“Launch them now! Now! Now! Now!” Pavlov yelled out. Emphasizing each ‘now’ with a point. The troopers saluted and ran off towards the first-class halls were the stern escape pods were located. Pavlov spun again and pointed at her helmsmen and engineering officers. 

“Tell engineering that they aren’t pushing it enough. We need more power. Redirect energy flow into the engines. Get us the hell out of here!” She yelled to her crew. In the back corner of the room, Ford watched as doom slowly covered the bridge of the Exodus Yellow. 

“So…this is how we go out,” Ford said quietly to himself.


	7. The Cloud Part 3

The alarms continued to glare as the doors began to open from the second-class passenger halls. Teves looked out and saw the doors opening and turned to Maria. She gave a smile of pure relief as she ran along the wall with Teves following her. When they reached the door, the crowd within their hall began to slowly make their way to the door. Both Maria and Teves held up their hands as a sign of stopping the crowd. Some of the citizens ran through the troopers and into the next hall. As another man tried to run, Teves shoved the civilian down with his shoulder and knocked him onto the ground. 

“Please! Orderly fashion! We cannot have a panic!” Teves yelled out to the crowd. 

Teves turned back to see those flooding into the first-class corridor. He took a few steps back as Maria held the front line. As he looked back, he saw Sullivan trying his best to move as quickly as possible to the stern of the ship. However, the flood of the first-class kept pushing him down and away from the intended path. 

Teves glanced some more and saw even a few soldiers were abandoning their posts and shoving people away to get towards the stern’s escape pods as the Exodus Yellow moved faster and faster. Teves looked back and saw the crowds pushing faster and faster. He turned back as he saw Maria trying to hold back civilians as more troopers moved in to help her. She turned back to him with fear on her face. 

More screams were heard as the ship came to a quick stop. The entire hull of the ship rattled and the crowds went silent. Maria looked back at Teves as worry covered their faces. The passengers on board the Exodus Yellow began to slightly float upward. The crowd began to yell out a bit as fear and confusion covered their faces. And just as quickly as the crowds rose into the air did they slam down onto the cold hard floor below them. 

Teves felt his bones crack slightly. No one could stand. Gravity was in flux as whatever this cloud was fully engulfed the ship. The hull rattled more as screws and sheets began to fly off of the wall and hit passengers. More force was applied to the ship. Citizens screamed out in pain and were quickly silenced by the shift of gravity. 

Teves slowly lifted his arm up and tried to reach out to Maria as he saw her struggle. She reached out to him as well. More bolts flew off of the wall. The rattling increased. Screams were heard and silenced faster. Bones broke from the sheer weight. 

The third-class passenger hull collapsed and was pulled off of the Exodus Yellow into the cloud. Emergency protocols went into effect and the door between second and third-class slammed shut as thousands were sucked out into the darkness. Many of the passengers were flung out towards the third class but since the doors closed, they were sitting upright. However, the pressure from the increase in gravity applied directly onto the heads and feet of some caused their deaths to be quicker. 

Teves saw Maria, her final moments. She was pulled back towards the third-class corridors but was stopped at the door. Her head was crushed instantly due to the force. She was long dead. Teves looked back and saw Sullivan was also on the ground, his body crushed by the force of gravity. 

Teves yelled as he felt his skull slowly break apart. His ribs began to dig into his lungs and crush them. The sound of the intercom went off as the ship began to collapse more and more towards the mass population of citizens. 

“Ladies and gentlemen!” It was Captain Pavlov, “Launch escape pods now if you can! Live! For us! You must reach Mars or” she was cut off. The sound of crushing metal and screams arrived. The bridge had collapsed. More bolts and sheets fell off of the walls and continued to bash in the bodies of the people. Teves looked around a bit more until he saw his fate before his very eyes. The first-class passenger bay snapped in half. And Teves, along with 3,000 souls were sucked into the black void of space. 

Teves yelled out as life faded from his eyes.


	8. The Last Day of Corporal Alexander Teves

Alexander Teves felt himself drifting from the void of space. He thought himself dead. In no way should he be alive right now. The vacuum of space would kill anything not in proper gear within 3.75 seconds. And yet, he felt himself breath. He felt something hold onto him. It wasn’t a caring embrace. It was cold. It was evil. It was Darkness. And this force made Teves open his eyes. 

Teves panted as he was unable to move. He was unable to blink. Something was holding onto him. And it was pain. Teves tried to take in some deep breaths, or to breathe at all but he simply couldn’t. Oxygen wasn’t entering his system. It couldn’t. Nothing was entering his body. But that was not his top priority once he saw the Exodus Yellow. 

The massive ship, holding well over 100,000 souls was torn apart. The bridge, troop quarters and the entire stern was completely lobbed off. Crushed and collapsed in on itself. The bow, also the same fate. Countless dead within seconds. Countless more dying inside. As he watched in horror of what was happening to his home of 2 months, two red orbs descended upon him. 

Teves shrieked a little. The orbs did nothing. They hovered. Looking directly at him. Controlling his movements. What he could see and what he couldn’t see. How he was alive right now was because of these orbs. 

The cloud. These orbs were its eyes. 

It wanted him to bear witness to the destruction. Teves’ eyes were forced open as the destruction of the entire ship was before him. The central hull of the ship began to lower and crack under the massive gravity waves. Another section of the ship was completely ripped off and thrown into space. Teves could see the remaining passengers being ripped away and thrown into the cloud and the empty void of space. Teves again tried to close his eyes until the two orbs moved before him and lit up.

“Witness.” A deep voice stated in a cold tone. 

It was the cloud. It could speak. It was alive. It knew what it was doing. It was torturing thousands by forcing them to watch hope die before their very eyes. Teves tried to fight the grip that the cloud held around him. But nothing. There was nothing he could do. And within seconds, the final bit of the Exodus Yellow was crushed. 

Alex’s eyes quivered, tears beginning to form in them. The remains of the flat sheet of metal began to crumble up into a ball as the gravity continued to increase upon the ship at all angles. The orbs moved into Alex’s face and lit up again.

“Die.” 

Alex could finally feel himself regain control of his arms and body again as he was launched towards the remains of the ship. He felt gravity begin to crush him all over again. The feeling stopped when he finally made contact with the massive hulk of metal. Then darkness. Silence. Peace. It was over. 

Light began to shine in the eyes of a man. A low groan was heard as the figure lifted his arm up to shake his head. He slowly sat up. A man wearing old Russian Aeronautics gear. Brown hair made a bit red due to Mars’ sands and broad shoulders. He looked around until he heard a higher pitch male voice. 

“Hello. Welcome back!”

The man turned his head and saw a hexagonal figure floating before him. 

“What?” He panted out. “Where am I? What are you? Why” the hexagon cut him off. “I’m a Ghost. Your ghost. A pleasure to meet you.” It said 

“Ok.” He said back, still confused. “Well. Where am I? 

“Currently, Mars. Near the city of Tarrey.” The Ghost said. “We are in Fallen Territory.” 

“Why,” the man asked, “Why can’t I remember anything?”

“That happens to every Guardian when they get revived for the first time. You’ve been dead for about 250 years.” The Ghost explained. 

“What?” Shouted the man. “Don’t worry. I can explain everything to you soon! We need to run though!” The Ghost said, quelling the man’s worries. “There should be a port nearby. Should be a functioning ship.”

“Alright then. Let’s get going, Ryker.”

The Ghost turned back to him and blinked once. The man stood up and looked back to his ghost. “I need to call you something. Unless you already have a name.” The man said back. 

“No, no. Ryker. I like it. I am Ryker the Ghost!” Ryker said with a gleeful charm. “Uh…what do you want your name to be?” The Ghost asked. 

The man stepped back. He didn’t remember his name. He just couldn’t. He sighed a little as he looked over to Ryker. “I…I don’t know.” The Guardian said. “Maybe…Triv. Alors Triv.” Alors stated firmly. 

“Alors?” Ryker responded questioningly. A beep came from the ghost as he chuckled. “I like it. Alors and Ryker. Well, partner. We gotta run.”

“Right. Direct me.” Alors said back. 

The two began to walk into the city of Tarrey, directly towards the massive spaceport submerged under the sands of Mars.


End file.
